


the fine line between love and hate.

by Wonderceci



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:12:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wonderceci/pseuds/Wonderceci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yahaba Shigeru didn’t like Kyoutani Kentarou.<br/>He knew all those rumors about him, and, even if his mother always told him that “rumors don’t equal truth”, he couldn’t help to think that they existed because of something. Ok, maybe Kyoutani didn’t murder his own family, but it was a fact that he was an aggressive person with a shady life. That’s why, when his best friend told him that he was thinking about inviting him to his birthday party that Friday night, he completely refused to let Watari do that mistake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the fine line between love and hate.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is the first fanfic that I've ever completed, so I apologise in advance for every error that I might have made.  
> Also, in this story Yahaba is on his 3rd year, just so you know.

Yahaba Shigeru didn’t like Kyoutani Kentarou.

He knew all those rumors about him, and, even if his mother always told him that “rumors don’t equal truth”, he couldn’t help to think that they existed because of something. Ok, maybe Kyoutani didn’t murder his own family, but it was a fact that he was an aggressive person with a shady life. That’s why, when his best friend told him that he was thinking about inviting him to his birthday party that Friday night, he completely refused to let Watari do that mistake.

“Why shouldn’t I invite him? We are in the same team after all.”

“That doesn’t mean that you should invite him to the celebration of your birth!”

“You’re being ridiculous. Take this as an opportunity to bond.” Watari winked at him as he went back to his classroom.

He stomped back to his own classroom thinking of ways to avoid Kyoutani being invited. He could tell Watari that he told Kyoutani about the birthday and _unfortunately_ he was busy that night, but his best friend knew better, so he would want to check that with Kyoutani himself. Maybe, after Watari invited him, Shigeru could convince him not to come in a… subtle way, implying that it was going to be too boring, or that Iwaizumi was not going to go; he knew how much he admired his senpai, and that he was the only one he had any kind of respect for.

Yes. That would be the plan of action.

\--

He waited until Watari made his invitation to know whether the alleged criminal would go to the party. He was practicing his serve when he saw Watari approaching him.

“He said that he has to do something that night, so he didn’t know if he’d be able to go or not. I bet you are really happy.” Watari looked at him, waiting for his reaction. He was right. He was happy to know that his archenemy most likely wouldn’t go, but a small part of him wasn’t considering the fact that maybe Kyoutani didn’t want or couldn’t go.

“Y-yeah. I am!!”

“Really? You look a bit disappointed, though.” He gave him a knowing look, as he grabbed one of the volleyballs from the floor.

“What? Nah, I just didn’t think he had any social life apart from volleyball.” Watari gave him one of his “if you say so” looks and went back to practice, leaving Shigeru behind.

Was he disappointed?

\--

As Friday became closer, he began to watch Kyoutani more and more, trying to figure out what could he have to do a Friday night. However, nothing came to mind, not only did he realize that he actually didn’t know a thing about Kyoutani, but he also noticed how eager he became to see the other on every practice.

The tension between the two also grew. Shigeru started to make more sarcastic remarks, to which Kyoutani didn’t respond in a good way. However, every time Kyoutani made a successful spike, he gave a little smile, which made his stomach do a little plop. Shigeru hated feeling things he couldn’t control, so he filed that feeling as the ‘hatred he felt for Kyoutani’.

\--

It was finally Friday, and Shigeru was restless to know if Kyoutani was going to go to the celebration or not, so he took matters to his own hands; he was going to look for him on the next recess and ask him. Just like that. It wasn’t very hard for him to find Kyoutani, especially since his eyes went everywhere the guy with the bleached hair was, even the rooftop. He found him sitting in a corner, sheltered from the sunlight, listening to music so loudly, that the headphones didn’t even fulfill their purpose anymore. Shigeru walked to him and sat by his side, making Kyoutani flinch from the sudden movement.

“What the-! What are you doing here?” He said, as he paused the music on his cell phone.

“Well, hello to you too.” Shigeru gave him a condescending smile.

“Don’t you have more people to bother?”

“That’s until five, don’t worry.” Kyoutani mumbled an ‘asshole’ that Shigeru pretended not to hear, and there was an awkward minute of silence until he decided to speak up.

“Watari wants to know if you are going to his party.” There it was, he said it. He wasn’t lying, he bet Watari did want to know that, but he still couldn’t shake the nervousness he was feeling.

“And why is it important if I go or not?” He looked as he wanted to throw Shigeru down the roof, so the latter had to think fast.

“Well, he has to know how many will actually go, so he can buy the correct amount of food for dinner.” _Yes! Great comeback, Shigeru._ He thought, as he internally high-fived himself.

“Oh.” Kyoutani looked a bit embarrassed. “I… I’m going.”

“See? It wasn’t that hard.” He stood up as he went back inside. However, once he entered, it hit him. Kyoutani was going to the birthday party. _Shit._

\--

Four outfits later, Shigeru still couldn’t find anything to wear. He was trying to look for an outfit that said “I look good without even trying”, but nothing he tried on convinced him. He finally settled for dark jeans and a t-shirt that he had bought the week before. He fixed his hair in front of the bathroom mirror and was good to go. “Mom! Can you take me to Watari’s house?” He yelled while going down the stairs.

“Sure, honey! Let me take this out of the oven.” Shigeru sat on the sofa, watching his mother take a huge chicken out of the oven. She always made too much food, considering that only Ms. and Mr. Yahaba were going to eat it. His mother grabbed the car keys from the table as she looked at him.

“Oh my! You look really handsome!” She exclaimed while cupping his son’s face with her hands.

“Mom!” He let go, embarrassed; he was a 17 year old, for god’s sake!

“Sorry hun.” She laughed at the sight. “Any special girl going to the party?”

“Mom!!” He stormed out of the house, not before grabbing the wrapped knee pads he bought for Watari after hearing complaining for about a month about how his current ones were ‘old as fuck’.

\--

Shigeru was the first one to arrive to the party, but only because he had promised Watari to help him with the preparations, so he actually was fifteen minutes earlier. He gave his friend his gift, to which he responded with a sarcastic ‘Whaaat? It’s like you read my mind!!!’. After they set up the table, they sat in a corner to chat and waited for the guests to arrive, when they heard the doorbell.

“Wow, that’s early.” Watari said as he went downstairs to get the door. While he waited for his friend and the guest, he picked a cracker and stuffed with a considerable amount of cheese, which spread all over his mouth and cheeks. He was going to grab a tissue to clean himself up, when he heard the door of the room being opened.

“Wow, Yahaba, you are really hungry, aren’t you?” Shigeru looked up to see Watari trying to hold his laughter, next to a wide-eyed Kyoutani. He jumped to grab the tissues and cleaned his face.

“Hey.” He greeted Kyoutani, only to get a small grunt in response.

Five minutes of awkward silence later, Kyoutani spoke up, surprising the other two. “Oh, I’m sorry that I didn’t buy you a present, but I’ll give it to you on Monday.” Watari and Shigeru were dumbfounded by Kyoutani’s comment, not only because it was the longest they had seen him talk without him being mad, but because they didn’t expect him to actually care to buy him a present.

“Oh... Don’t worry, there’s no need for a present.” Watari answered. Just before falling in silence again, the doorbell rang again.

“Be right back!” He jumped, exiting the room and leaving Shigeru and Kyoutani alone. Shigeru’s mother always told him that he ate like a pig whenever he was nervous, and being in a room, alone, with Kyoutani definitely made him nervous. He stuffed his mouth with all he could find, chips? Check, olives? Check, those crackers with a huge amount of cheese? Check. He was so immersed on his eating that he almost didn’t hear Kyoutani give a small chuckle; he was about to look up and make a comment when the birthday boy opened the door with two other guests.

“Hey!” Kindaichi and Kunimi said in unison.

\--

Since Watari’s room became too small for all the people there, they moved to the backyard. Shigeru had thought that he only was going to invite the volleyball team, but he also invited some girls from high school. Apparently, one of them knew about him, because she was glued to him, and after some shots, she began to ‘subtly’ touch his arm. Shigeru had to admit that she was cute; long hair, fair skin, and big yes were things he knew made a girl attractive, but he still wasn’t interested. He looked for someone for help, anyone, but even Kindaichi, who looked like a responsible guy, had drunk. However, he also noticed that Kyoutani was nowhere to be seen, so, using him as an excuse, he escaped the drunken girl’s embrace and entered the house in his search.

He found him in the living room, sitting on the couch watching TV. Apparently, Kyoutani hadn’t noticed Shigeru’s presence, because he jumped when he felt him sat next to him on the couch.

“What are you watching?” He casually asked, crossing his legs. First, Kyoutani watched him with a confused face, trying to figure out what was Shigeru doing there, but he eventually answered.

“Kitchen Nightmares.”

“Oh, I love that show.” There were some minutes of awkward silence, only having the tv and the party as background noise when Shigeru decided to talk again.

“Why are you inside?” Kyoutani doubted before answering, as if not believing that Shigeru was still talking to him.

“I don’t like crowds. Especially drunken ones.”

“So why did you come?” Kyoutani simply shrugged, and silence was restored again. However, Shigeru still wanted to continue the conversation.

“Is that beer?” He pointed at the cup on the coffee table.

“It’s coke.”

“Coke? Why coke?”

Kyoutani looked annoyed by the question. “Are you criticizing my taste?” Shit, he made him mad.

“No! No.” He tried to look for the correct words. “It’s just that everyone is drinking alcohol, so I found it weird that somebody else wasn’t.”

“Oh.” Now it was Kyoutani who looked embarrassed. “I shouldn’t drink alcohol, since I was born with only one kidney.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” So that meant that the rumor of him having an alcohol problem was a lie.

“Not many people do.” Kyoutani shrugged.

“So… Am I special?”

“No.” His ears were covered in red. “It just never popped up in the conversation.” The sight made Shigeru laugh, which earned him an estranged look from Kyoutani.

“Are you drunk?” He asked.

“Me? Nah. I only drink at home since… ‘the incident’”

“What did you do? Did you punch someone?”

“Worse… I killed someone.” He said, with a dramatic voice; however, Kyoutani seemed to believe it, since his face turned pale.

“Um…” He began to say, separating himself from Shigeru.

“It was a joke.” He laughed, seeing how Kyoutani was all red again. “I actually sang Barbie Girl in front of a whole bunch of people and some… compromising things were recorded.”

“Sounds like a wild night.”

“It was…”

Shigeru took a moment to actually see Kyoutani. He was wearing pants a shade darker than himself with a dark t-shirt; he had rosy cheeks and his roots where starting to grow a little, only noticeable if you pay attention. He also noticed some dark thin things around his eyes.

“Are you…wearing eyeliner?” That comment made Kyoutani’s face become a tomato.

“S-s-so what? D-do you have a problem with that?” He stuttered, which made Shigeru laugh, again; he noticed how much he laughed at Kyoutani.

“I don’t have a problem with it, I just never noticed it. It suits you.”

Kyoutani was about to answer him when they heard someone enter the living room. They both turned around, only to see the clingy girl from before standing there. “There you were, Shigeru.” Shigeru cringed as he heard his name being said by her. “What are you doing with that guy? He’s a criminal, I don’t know what he’s even doing here” That made him angry, he knew that that’s how he thought of him like, two hours earlier, but it sounded so wrong coming from her. He turned around and saw Kyoutani frowning.

“I should go home.” He said, standing up. Shigeru grabbed his arm as an instinct.

“Is… somebody picking you up?” He managed to say.

“I’ll walk.” Kyoutani wasn’t looking at him.

“Let me take you home!” He blurted out. “I was planning to go home too…so let me drop you off; I just have to call my mom.”

“What if he steals you car, though?” Shigeru had forgotten that she was still in the room.

“Shut the fuck up.” He said. He wished he actually was drunk so he could blame it on the alcohol, he didn’t know why he was so angry.

“Let’s go outside.” He took the wrist of a wide-eyed Kyoutani and left the house. While Kyoutani sat in the sidewalk, Shigeru was calling his mother on his phone; once he finished, he sat next to him.

“Thank you, by the way.” Kyoutani mumbled, Shigeru could see how red he was even in the dim light.

“It was nothing. She didn’t have the right to say those things.” He gave a little smile.

“They aren’t true, you know.” “Huh?” “The rumors. They aren’t true. I know I look… intimidating, but I’ve never done anything illegal, like, at all.” Kyoutani’s face looked sad. Shigeru realized that he was worse of a person than he had thought, he had judged Kyoutani for his appearence.

“Why don’t you deny them?”

“I don’t think there’s any use on denying them, and I find it difficult to talk to people either way.” Shigeru rested his chin on the palm of his hand, sighing. “I used to believe those rumors too, you know?” He said. Kyoutani turned his head to look at Shigeru, but he didn’t say a word. “That’s…kind of why I’m glad Watari invited you here; If you hadn’t come, I’d have continued believing them.”

He gave Kyoutani a small smile, and just before he was going to answer, Shigeru’s mom arrived. Kyoutani gave Ms Yahaba directions to get to his house and they drove him there. When they arrived to the Yahaba household, his mother gave him a wink.

 

“I guess it wasn’t a girl after all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this!! Any constructive critisism will be appreciated!!


End file.
